ABSTRACT
The
purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of peer group on
adolescent and their academic performance. Descriptive research
methodology was used. Random sampling techniques was also adopted to
select about one hundred in schools adolescents from four secondary
schools in Egor Local Government Area of Edo State. Questionnaires were
developed to collect data. The data collected was analyzed using the
t-test and parson. The findings of this study revealed that peer group
could either positively or negatively influence the academic performance
of in school adolescents. This research recommends that parents and
teachers should provides adequate guidance to adolescents to help them
understand how the friends they keep can either positively or negatively
influence their academic performance in school.
TABLE OF CONTENT
CHAPTER ONE
Background of the study
Statement of the problem
Research questions
Purpose of the study
Significance of the study
Scope of the study
Limitation of the study
Definition of terms
CHAPTER TWO
Review of related literature
CHAPTER THREE
Research design and methodology
Population of the study
Sample size
Data collection
Instrument for data collection
Method of data analysis
CHAPTER FOUR
Data presentation and interpretation of data analysis
CHAPTER FIVE
Summary, recommendations and conclusion
Summary
Recommendations
Conclusion
REFERENCES
QUESTIONNAIRES
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND OF STUDY
The educational foundation of a child starts right from the home. It
starts with informal education which being with the parents when the
child is of age he will be sent to school for final education. At school
the child is exposes to so mine people like the teacher, classmates and
health of school. All these people associated with the education of the
child certainly influence the students greatly. The academic
performance of the child are greatly influence by the students who are
mostly his classmates and peer group because he spend most of his time
with them. The peer group is therefore the first social group outside
the home in which the child attempt to gain acceptance. Each peer group
has its code of conduct which does not always confirm with advance
standard. The peer group becomes an agency of enculturation and
learning. Even very young children develop a sense of self from their
perception of important people in their surroundings including
relatives, teachers and peer socio-economics status, ethnicity and
parents occupation affects how families view themselves and the process
by which they socialize their children (Bornstein, 2002). Later as
children leave their home setting their self perception and socializing
skills become influenced by how their peers view them. When children
move out from family to child care centers, school and the community at
large they begin to form attachments and friendships emerge through
their play. These relationship influence behaviours. Even infants and
toddlers are observed reacting to other infants by touching them, by
crying when others cry and later by offering nurturance or comfort. At
about age three, early friendship begins to have a more lasting
influence (Parke, 1990) peer influence on behaviour gradually becomes
more dominant.
Smart and Smart (2000) defines peers as equal or in the usual meaning
as friend of about the same class members of the same society such as
the boys scout, girls, guide, chorister, football team, social clubs can
form peer group. The peer group influence on students academic
performance depends greatly on the skills and potential of the students.
Derville, B. (2001) observed that as a child grows up his own peer
group of companion are likely to become of greater importance to him
than his parents and teachers. Harris (1998, 2002) and Rowe (1994)
maintained that peer groups have an even stronger influence than that of
parents, although that extreme position has been refuted by other
researchers (Berk, 2005).
Gradually, children discover that others can share their feelings or
attitudes or have guilt different ones. The perspective of others will
affect ho children feel about their own families. Children usually have a
family view of their own and of other cultures. So when confronted with
other perspectives, they often need to re think their own view points.
It is often difficult for chuckler to adjust to the idea that other
families can function radically differently from their own and yet hold
many of the same attitudes and beliefs and be equally nurturing and
secure. The peer group serves as a barometer for children examining
themselves and their feelings about self and family. The peer group also
influence development of children’s socializing skills. These early
friendship help children learn how to negotiate and relate to other
including their siblings and other family members. They learn from peer
on how to cooperate and socialize according to group norms and group-
sanctioned modes of behaviour. The peer group can influence what the
child values, know, wear eats and learn.
The extent of this influence, however, depends on other situational
constraints, such as the age and personality of children of the group
(Harris, 1998, Hartyp, 1983). In its most acceptance form, the peer
groups is healthy coming of age arbiter, by which children grasps
negotiating skills and learn to deal with hostility and to solve
problems in a social context. In its most destructive mode, the peer
group can demand blind obedience to a group norm, which can result in
socially alienated gangs with pathological outlooks (Peer, 1987).
Despite so much change in today’s society, the fundamental tasks of
growing up still endure to find a place in a sense of belonging, to
identify and master tasks that are generally recognized as having values
and therefore can earn respect by acquiring skills to cope with them to
acquire a sense of worth as a person, and to develop reliable and
predictable relationship with other people especially a few close
friends and loved ones. Conceptualization of the term students is
derived from Latin word “stud” which means growing up. It is a period of
transaction in which the individual transforms from childhood to
adulthood.
Wentzel (1989) and Lingrett (1995) found out that as children grow and
move to adulthood, involvement with and influence of peer identification
increase as modeling value of the family decreases. In most cases, peer
tends to replace the modeling value of the family context during early
childhood. As a result of the social acknowledgement that students look
for, they are under certain among of pressure that drives them to abide
by the peer convictions or rejections. The way social interaction affect
academic achievement of students is important for parents, educators,
and policy makers. The peer group’s influence on a students especially
during adolescents and early adult hood is a powerful force for both
pre-social and anti-social development. Academic performance has also
been a subject of intense study. Caltern (1998) came up with the
findings that strong relationship does exist between school adjustment
behaviour and peer acceptance. It was also found out that strong and
quality peer associations are related to poor or good academic
performance and successful school transition. Peer influence is one of
the most frequently referred to forms of negative peer influence. It is
particularly common because students are forced to spend large amount of
time in fixed groups (school and sub groups within them) regardless to
their opinion of these groups. In addition to this, they lack the
maturity to handle it. Also students naturally wish to behave negatively
towards those who are not members of their peer groups. However,
students can also have positive effect for example if one is involved
with a group of people that are ambitious and working to succeed one
might feel pressured to follow suit to avoid feeling excluded from the
group.
Positive peer influence on academic performance depends on the students
self identity, self esteem and self reliance. Peer influence can
mobilize student’s energy and motivate for success. Peer can and do act
as positive role models. Negative behaviour that his or her value might
otherwise reject. If a student is influence negatively from peer it
affects their academic performance. Stronger student do have an impact
on their peers and actually help improve the over all academic
performance, for example, if student are friends to secondary school
dropout, they have tendency to be absent from school, have lower grade
and less positive attitudes towards school, they are less popular and
less likely to plan to attend higher institutions. If dropout maintains
contact with friends who have stayed in schools, however, these friends
may provide moral support for returning to school. Attitude and
aspiration of peers as well as peer expectations and standards affect
individual’s efforts and achievement in school for many secondary school
students, achieving in school is in direct conflict with peer
acceptance.
However, it is through the peer group that students are most likely to
be introduced to problem behaviour such as drinking, smoking, diligence
and low academic performance. Positive peer influence generates more
alternative solution to problem, proposed more mature solution and are
less aggressive than students who are influenced negatively. Students
are attracted to join peer groups because such groups provide them with
sources of information needed to be empowered academically,
vocationally, psychologically or otherwise and give the feedback about
the appropriateness of their emotions especially when students are
highly stressed or under stressed (Schachter, 1989).
STATEMENT OF PROBLEMS
The influences that peer group have on ones academic achievement is
enormous. The ways and manners by which peer influence affects students
academic performance needs to be researched and documented. This will
assist parents and counsellors to understand the pattern of peer
influence and ways to curb negative influence.
RESEARCH QUESTIONS
1. Bad teaching methods on the part of the teacher could be encouraged by negative activities in the peer group.
2. Lack
of school materials can make the children to be indolent at school work
which could help to encourage negative activities in the peer group and
this help to lower academic performance.
3. Indiscipline
in schools could encourage negative activities among members of a peer
group and this can lower academic performance.
PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
The purpose of this study or research work is to achieve the following
objectives on the academic performance of students on secondary school
in Egor Local government Area of Edo State.
1. examine the concept and nature of peer group
2. discuss the challenges associated with students
3. analyze means by which peer group influence in school students
4. discuss the effects of peer group influence on academic performance of students.
SIGNIFICANCE OF STUDY
This study is important for several reasons. Firstly, the study will
give the researcher an in-depth insight into how the activities of the
peer group really influence. Secondly, the researcher will also create a
source of awareness for teacher and parents that uncontrolled
negativities among peer groups to which their children belong can lower
or increase the academic performance.
Lastly, the study will help to highlight area where peer groups
activities could have negative effect on the part of the school children
so that they could be checked by the parents and teachers.
SCOPE OF THE STUDY
This research work focuses on the influence of peer group on student’s
academic performance. This research work covers four selected secondary
schools in Egor Local Government Area of Edo State.
DEFINITION OF TERMS
For the purpose of clarification, the following terms which are used in the content of study are hereby defined.
1. Peer
group. This refers to children or adolescents who are of the same age
or maturity, level and have regular contact with each other.
2. Peer group. Peer influence can be described as the pressure adolescents feel from their peers.
3. Academic
performance. This has to do with children programmes at school work in
the area of ability to read and write, ability to speak good English, to
solve problems in mathematics and ability to use their initiated under
any circumstances.
4. Adolescent. This refers to the transitory period where a child moves to adulthood. The adolescent years fall with 12-18 years.
5. Social
time. This has to do with discipline and good responses to academic
work by both teachers and students alike. The ability to submit
willingly to constituted, where this exist, there is adequate room for
academic achievement.
6. In-
school adolescent. This refers to the adolescents who are still in the
formal school system as opposed to those who have dropped out of school.
7. Social
status. This has to do with the academic and home background of the
parents of the children who are subject of this research. It is observed
that children from higher social background usually perform better to
some extent in academic work than those from the lower social background
in the area of ability to speak simple and correct English and to
write.
8. Truancy.
It is unjustified absence from school on a child’s own initiat5ive
without the permission of parents or school. a truant is any child that
is irregular at school for he finds other places more attractive than
school work, and all it stands for. He may be an individual who just
does not want to go to school and makes plan to do some other things
else. He wanders away from these difficulties and in at least held the
drift into delinquency.
Truancy is a
series of sociological problem which can lead to juvenile delinquency
and ultimately to crime. The pupils who play truant are generally
difficulties in anxious and highly sensitive in class and have
difficulties in their dealing with other people there.